大俠行天下日記 我見我聞我思 03/16

重返老家 回首舊事

昨天上午我和李雄兄陪同赫里斯郡第四區郡長卡格一行走訪了休斯敦國際區內的普德精舍， 並承見曇法師及各位師兄師妹之熱情接待 ，走遍了精舍內大小禪堂佛殿， 並由法師向訪客細述多年來在休市推廣之各項身心修行之工作， 為我們的社區帶來了心靈和精神重建之巨大貢獻。

當我再次回到自己奠基親自督導興建的兩層舊樓時 ，多少舊事又再次湧上心頭。

八十年代中期， 德州休斯敦正在席捲一陣金融風暴， 幾乎所有大小銀行都已關閉或正在進行重整之中 ，美國聯邦政府把收回來的無數資產包括商塲 、辦公大樓進行拍賣 ，有的甚至免費接收， 真是一片愁云慘霧 ，當時我們創辦的美南新聞剛過六年， 但是， 華亞裔移民開始向德州不斷移動 ，其中包括來自東南亞之華裔難民最為顕注。

八O年代初期， 有天我接受了前來休斯敦投資的華裔殷商王增達董事長之晚宴款待 ，我非常淸楚的記得他對我說，「李兄 ，我多次到美南地區考察 ，最後決定來投資興建頂好商圈之原因，是看了你在休士顿和達拉斯出版的報紙， 已經有那麼多商家广告， 這給我有十足之信心。」這段對話也是促成我決心追隨王董事長從城中搬到西南區參與新華埠之興建， 其中最重要的工作就是籌建新的報社總部， 経過一年多的籌劃， 一幢我們認為美崙美奐之媒體大樓 ，更是我們多年夢想之实現， 可是， 我們却遇上意想不到的困擾， 由于當時預算關係， 報社用地只有買到百利大道後半段， 正好是在一家油漆店後方， 當時那名白人店主來訪要以每呎二十五元出售門前之土地， 否則他就加上鐵欄， 這分明是敲詐行為，當然我們無法接受 ，不到一個月他果然在我們大門前建上圍欄並把垃圾箱正放在大樓門口， 這是多麼令人髪指而又無奈之事， 我們進入印報廠的十輪大卡車只有勉強借用隔壁教會之停車塲， 我們等于被包圍了。

從那天被圍之後 ，我心中又急又氣， 我們決定搬家， 有天來到不遠的百利大道上看見一塊六點二畝的空曠土地， 由於當時景氣低迷 ，我們使盡全力買下了這塊雜草叢生的荒蕪之地 ，上天不負苦心人， 在好友賴大律師之相助下， 我們找到了中台禪寺普德精舍的新主人， 於是我們把這筆收入投資到新的計劃中。

今天回盼過去艰辛歲月 ，我們接受過的挑戰以及多少和我們共同奮鬥過的同仁及支持者， 我們真是感恩再感恩。

普德精舍的禅堂傳来陣陣的誦經祈福法會聲， 今午再次回到老家， 心情澎湃和激動 ，同時也體會到俗語所說「因禍得褔」之道理。

Return To Our Old Office And Look Back Into The Past

Yesterday morning Kenneth Li and I accompanied by Commissioner R. Jack Cagle visited Joan Tan Shih Abbot of Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston in the International District.

We received a very warm welcome and saw the Zen Hall which serves the great spiritual needs in our community.

When I returned to this two-story building that we built in the mid -1980’s where we spent seventeen years in this location, I was filled with many memories from my life here.

In the early 1980’s, Texas was in a big recession. Many banks and saving and loans had been closed by the FDIC. Many buildings and shopping centers were auctioned off. The only thing new were the Asians. Many overseas immigrants were moving in here during that period of time.

I remembered that I had been invited to a dinner party by the developer, Mr. T.D. Wang. During the event he told me that, “Mr. Lee, the reason I am very confident is that when I read your newspapers in Houston and Dallas, I found out there are so many Asian and Chinese advertisements that it made me decide to build the Ding Ho shopping center on Bellaire Blvd.” 

I was so moved that our newspapers were such an important reason for him to invest in southwestern Houston, which later became the new Chinatown.

After one year, I decided to move our company to southwest Houston and located at 12129 Bellaire Blvd. Due to our limited budget, we could only afford to buy piece of land behind Bellaire Blvd. Later, after we built the two-story building and moved in late 1987, one day the owner of the paint store in front of me came to see me and asked me to pay $25 dollars per square foot for use of his land. It was blackmail, of course. I refused it. After a couple of months, he built an iron fence and put garbage tents in front of our main door. We felt very angry and anxious, but there was nothing we could do, because he had the right to do what he did. Since then, we decided that we must move out to a different location in order to have enough space to have the big trucks deliver our newspaper rolls. 

One day when I was traveling on Bellaire Blvd., I saw a for sale sign on 11122 Bellaire Blvd. I made up my mind to buy it and with the help from my good friend attorney Mr. Andy Lai, we were able to sell the building to Chung Tai Center. I used the funds to make the down payment to purchase the land at the new location.

Looking back, during the difficult years of my life, with great assistance from our colleagues and supporters, we were able to survive and make Southern. News Group a continuing service to our community.

As the old saying goes, it was worth the time to me, and the best time when I returned to my old home. I felt very moved and excited. We are so grateful this great land has given us so much opportunity.